| This thesis’s main point is to analyze the paradoxical complex of GeorgeOrwell—the paradoxical views of colonial discourses and anti-colonial discoursesappear simultaneously in his first novel Burmese Days. Moreover, it explores themajor roots for Orwell’ s paradoxical complex through the application of thepost-colonial theory, more specifically, Said’s Orientalism perspective. In the novel,Orwell strongly criticizes and condemns the British officials in Burma. Meanwhile theauthor shows his sympathy for Burma and the colonized native people by exposingthe evil of British colonial rule. However, Orwell unconsciously expresses hiscolonial discourses when depicting native characters and landscapes,which greatlyweakens the book’s anti-colonialism significance. Orwell’ s familiarity with andaffection for Burma, together with his identity as a liberal humanist, let him show hisanti-colonial standpoint in this novel. However, as a white author, Orwell cannotavoid being influenced by the deep-rooted Western collective thoughts ofEurocentrism and colonialism, so he unconsciously falls into colonial discourseswhen creating Burmese Days. |
